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UPDATE AS AT 28 APRIL 2016

Please attend public meeting at which fate of Berrys Bay Marina DA will be determined

5pm Thursday 5 May at North Sydney Council Chambers

The fate of Berrys Bay Marina DA 260/15 will be ‘determined’ at this meeting. The 7 April meeting of the Joint Regional Planning Panel (JRPP) was to have been the Determination Meeting. However that ‘determination’ was did not occur because, as a result of a Council/JRPP administrative hiccup, the JRPP had failed to meet its statutory obligation to give all submitters on the DA a formal Notice one week ahead of the Determination Meeting.

As a result another meeting, to be the Determination Meeting, is scheduled for 5pm Thursday 5 May in the Hutley Hall at Council. ThePanel will hear additional comments on the Assessment Report. It will then adjourn to confer, before reconvening the public meeting to announce their decision – refusal or approval – and their reasons.

An interesting development – At the 7 April meeting a Panel member sought clarification from the DA proponent about whether the superyacht marina proposed for the dolphin wharf was to be serviced by a path that goes through part of Carradah Park, and whether that was a permitted use. The proponent’s team undertook to report back to the JRPP. However on 18 April the JRPP loaded a number of files on its website which show that following the 7 April meeting the proponent sought to lodge with Council amendments to the DA to provide a floating walkway to access the dolphin wharf (which would eliminate any need for access through Carradah Park). The files also show that Council refused to accept those amendments to the DA – telling the proponent that those changes would necessitate another 30 day Exhibition and further assessment. As a result the 5 May Determination Meeting will be determining the fate of DA 260/2015 as publicly exhibited in February this year.

There was a very large attendance of close to 200 at the 7 April meeting. We strongly encourage you to also attend the 5 May meeting because another large attendance will reinforce to the JRPP the breadth of community concern at the excessive scale of the proposed development. (It is not necessary that you speak).

It is very important to note that this is a planning consent meeting and is not an occasion for public protest. Our behaviour must again be appropriate with no placards and no interjections from the floor.

Although the Assessor’s recommendation is for refusal the JRPP makes up its own mind. It is very important to remember that for the Clontarf Marina DA in 2014 the Manly Council Assessment Report recommended ‘refusal’ but the JRPP approved that DA with conditions.